Ripples on the water
by KaidaRhapsodos
Summary: Vincent is a troubled young man trying to sort out the mess of his life. Unknown to him worse is to come. But he may not have to face it alone. Having run away from home Yuffie is out for herself on the streets of Midgar dangerous as they are.


Tiny lanterns were strung in rows all along the shabby buildings. Numerous stalls lined the wide street; some selling handmade wares, others had baked pastries that morning and were now setting them out on trays. People in muted colours flitted from one stall to the next. Those who could afford it dropped pennies into a violinist's cap. This was the Beggars Market in sector five; Vincent had been going there ever since he moved in with his mother, after his father's death.

The thought of his father still brought up hidden resentment. Vincent hadn't lived with him for very long, a few years at the most, he'd always lived with his mother until the day his father had turned up out of the blue saying Vincent was to come and live with him. A bit late he thought, fourteen years after your child was born and you abandoned your wife is a strange time to come back asking for that child. But what choice did he have? With his mother in the state she was, he really had not wanted to go. She suffered from paranoia and he was worried that him leaving would put extra stress on her. Nevertheless, Grimoire Valentine was his father, and he had been granted custody over Vincent.

Vincent tried to distract himself from the thoughts running rampant through his mind by focussing on a dango stall nearby. The sweet smelling treat brought back the real reason he was here in the first place; to buy food for that week. Sighing, he brushing a strand of long ebony hair out of his face. He always had to go out and buy anything he and his mother needed. She would never leave the house due to her paranoia. Slowly, he turned away from the pastel coloured sweets to look for a bread stall.

"Sorry!" A petite girl knocked into him.

"Hm," Vincent shook his head rubbing his arm. Instinctively he reached for his wallet, only to find an empty pocket where it had once been. Damn!

It was times like this when he was thankful for his Shin-Ra training. Spinning around in less than a heartbeat he managed to grab the girl by the arm.

"Hey! What d' ya think you're doing?" She yelled.

Vincent eyed the girl for a moment; she had a youthful face that some might describe as 'cute', framed with short black hair.

Her dark brown eyes seemed more almond shaped than those of the ordinary people around her. It was possible that she wasn't originally from Midgar, in fact he was certain of it. Wutai was more likely. But what a Wutai teenager was doing in Midgar unaccompanied?

Vincent tilted his head to the side, "Why did you steal my wallet?" He could understand if she needed the money to get food, but unfortunately, so did he.

"Wa'! I didn't steal anybody's wallet! What do you take me for? A thief?

"That's what it looks like, doesn't it?"

"No way!" The girl tried to pull away, with no success "I already told you, I didn't steal anything!" Her eyebrows tilted upward drawing closer together.

"You expect me to believe that?" He could see she was clearly worried. But he couldn't let her get away with it, he needed that money.

"Yeah!" She placed her free hand firmly on her hip.

Vincent sighed. Why did she have to be so troublesome? It was obvious she'd stolen his wallet, but she was too damn stubborn to admit it!

"Look, I don't have time to mess around." He scowled.

"Who's messing around? I didn't do anything!" She said, waving her free arm around.

Did she really think he was going to let her go that easily? Vincent raised an eyebrow, noticing a black pouch tied around the waist of her beige shorts. He could swear he saw his wallet poking out of the top. Swiftly, he leaned over, plucking it out.

"Wa'!" The girl tilted away from him.

"What were you saying about not stealing anything?"

"I, I…" She clenched her teeth and tried to wrench her arm out of his grip again. "Damn it, you've got your stupid gil! Now let me go!"

Vincent sighed. To be honest he had no idea what to do with this girl. Should he turn her in?

"Hay!" someone yelled, a fight seemed to have broken out a few yards from them. Three men appeared to have found some unknown reason to start hitting each other. No one seemed to be too excited about it. In this area, brawls were everyday events. Great, just what he needed, and all he came here for was some food. Vincent sighed again. In the split second his attention was on the brawl nearby, the girl snatched her arm away and bolted down a side ally.

"Drat," Vincent glowered. Well, at least he didn't have to deal with her anymore. He certainly had more important things to attend to, like finding something for dinner. Carefully, he placed his wallet inside his coat pocket.

It was then that he noticed something was missing. Usually he carried materia with him at all times, just in case. Because of his job as a Turk in Shin-Ra, Vincent never felt safe unless he had some materia and his trustworthy gun, Seikou, with that he checked the big pocket on the front of his coat, he found all of the materia completely gone.

"Damn it!" Vincent pressed one hand to his forehead in frustration. Honestly, that girl was going to get herself into serious trouble some time soon.


End file.
